Talk to me about concussion experiences

DS got hit in the back of the head last night with a soccer ball at practice and ended up with a concussion. We followed up with his doctor today and she's sending us to a specialist in concussions tomorrow or Monday. She told me she's a little worried given the severity of his symptoms (dizziness, headaches, eye's hurt, acting like he's had a few too many drinks). He's doing better than he was last night, and he hasn't complained once that all he could do was sit today. Just curious if other's had experiences with concussions and how long it took for their kiddos to heal. I know each child is different, but this is our first one so I'd like to know as much as I can.

Glad you and DS are going to see someone who can do a further evaluation and spell out the restrictions that are most appropriate given his specific situation.

DGD1 had a concussion a year or two ago while on the swim team — she was doing backstroke and crashed into the end of the pool. I can’t remember how long she had strict restrictions (such as resting in a darkened room, absolutely no screens or reading or other stimulation, out of school, etc) before gradually getting back to some usual activity. However, I think she must have found the restrictions helpful because she followed them much more willingly than I expected.

This year, she is playing field hockey, and had a minor collision — she asked to go to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have another concussion, just a mild headache. (Field hockey is probably safer for her than some of her teammates because she is a goal keeper and completely encased in protective gear including helmet, goggles, mouth guard etc as well as leg and arm protection — she looks like the Michelin man!)


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There is a standard concussion evaluation developed by CHOP that has very specific guidelines regarding recovery. Most pediatric practices I know use it. Basically DC goes through the evaluation and the results of that determine the recovery time. The protocol is generally the same... no screens, no tests, reading only at a certain font. The severity of the concussion determines the length of the recovery time.

In my own experience DC hit head on hard surface... immediately felt dizzy and nauseous. Had evaluation next day... result was to rest for 2 weeks. Our compromise on screens was TV only at a distance for short times. No other screens or running around. I took him to a science program to try to keep him busy and he was so upset bc there was a virtual reality viewer there that he could not do.

DS1 was elbowed in the back of the head playing basketball 3 years ago. Despite being knocked out for a couple of seconds, We thought he just "got his bell rung", as DH said. He was tired and dizzy and slurred speech but perked up a bit later that night. But 2 days later, he collapsed in a soccer game and complained of chest pains so we took him to urgent care. Turned out the concussion symptoms were a bit delayed, chest pains were basically his body freaking out. Very long story short, he eventually missed 6 weeks of school. His concussion was severe. The neurologist we were referred to was kind of a jerk and told DH and me completely different things regarding the severity, so we really didn't have a handle on what was going on. He also prescribed a medication that poor DS1 had a horrible frightening reaction to, giving him severe paranoia and hallucinations. The longest lasting effect of the concussion was depression and anxiety, so he was in therapy for about a year consistently and a few additional months less frequently.

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Ds has had a minor one from hockey and Dd got one from soccer as she took a free kick from an opponent in close range to the face. Hers was this past spring so it is fresher in my mind and it was also more severe. Symptoms and severity vary by concussion. There is no clear route of diagnosing as symptoms are self reported. With Dd they gave her a note for school and she was told to judge what she could do by how she felt and that it was not a time to push yourself or power through pain etc. Our dr no longer recommends being isolated in a dark room as there have been studies showing links to depression. They want the child to rest and gradually return to activities. Here is a good article on the subject.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/w...uidelines.html

Dd had to be symptom free for 7 days to return to contact activities. I felt we had some starts and stops getting to the 7 day mark. Dd missed some school because of her concussion but she was also able to attend portions of some bar Mitzvahs (she was in 7th gr) with dr’s ok. It took @3 weeks to reach the 7 days of being symptom free. The beginning was tough. We played simple card games (racko, uno) to pass the time.

DD had one from swimming, the neurologist prescribed a cocktail of vitamins that included green tea and a few other supplements, our local pharmacy had all the items and dosage, it's supposed to help the brain heal. She was very light sensitive and so wore sunglasses inside, was off school (9th grade) for a week and then it was Christmas break. We kept activities and screens limited and didn't do a lot, our house is pretty quiet with only 3 of us. She also stayed off the ice as she is also a hockey player.

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Dd had a concussion 3 years ago. The best thing I can say is its best to be overly-cautious and restrict activities at the beginning, then start reintroducing in amounts they can tolerate but stop when they cannot..and know it may take time.

Hard to remember all the details, but the concussion was originally missed for dd who got the concussion because she had a seizure/syncope and fell--so the attention was on the figuring out the seizure/syncope part. She could not be in large crowds, deal with loud noises, deal with crowds, got a lot of head aches, attention span was awful and some other things I cannot remember. It was so frustrating for her, as it was the end of the school year, she is a major band person, and she had to miss some awesome end of the year band activities.

Its hard to remember how long it took to recover. I feel like there probably were small changes at 1 month and then bigger at 3 months and 6 monts. Sorry if I am scaring you;hopefully it will be quicker, for your ds but that is how long it took for dd..I feel like attention span and headaches were the longest-staying...and I will say she has made a full recovery. She gets headaches, but since she has a long period of time without them, I really dont think they are from the concussion

She was not put on any medication other than something called Migrelief, which helped a lot with headaches. Its OTC and I think has b vitamins and magnesium.

Best of luck to your ds. Getting into a specialist early is very positive as it is important to make accommodations/changes sooner if necessary and this helps healing.

My oldest DD who is almost 16, had one when she was in third grade. She was playing goalie and the ball bounced off of her and then someone kicked it again when she was bent over and it hit really hard in the head. She was dizzy that night and had to be taken out of the game and the next day she had no symptoms going forward. She was kept out so she could be symptom-free for 2 weeks before returning.

My middle DD who is 14, literally just had one Monday night. She tried to head the ball at practice and misjudged it and it hit the back top part of her head. She had a headache that night along wth light sensitivity and difficulty focusing on letters at far distances. She did not lose consciousness but did say when the ball hit her head it was a 7 out of 10 on a 0 to 10 Pain Scale.

Her symptoms have been improving a little bit each day with regards to the severity. The day after it happened she felt okay in the morning and then as the day went on her headache returned. I work in the medical field and have gone to a few seminars on concussions so I know how to manage them and what to look out for and how to progress both mental and physical activities. So my DD's physician told me that if she gets stuck at any phase with being able to progress and he will refer us to the concussion center. We kept her out of school two days this week she went back Thursday for a half day with no increase in symptoms and today she is trying a full day.

He seems to think that her symptoms would resolve in 7 to 10 days but I honestly think it's going to take longer. 3 days later they are still present but just less.

So we are going to keep "splinting" her brain, no screens, resting, low stimulation, pacing herself at school were taking breaks as needed, Etc.

I'm so sorry this happened to your son it is so scary isn't it? I hope he makes a good recovery!!! And to answer your question everyone is different. We know a girl who had headed the ball in the same spot as well and she was out for the season - she actually couldn't even balance.

It is so individual and everyone will have a different experience and length of time. The most important thing is to make sure that the concussion is fully healed before returning to sport because if it is not and he sustained another one the damage to the brain will be much more so.

Best of luck to your son and hugs.

* pardon any grammatical or spelling errors, I was dictating from my phone

Thank you for all of your stories! The personality change we experienced was the scariest part for me. It would have been super funny because he was so giggly about EVERYTHING, if it hadn't meant he damaged his brain. Right after it happened he was acting like he was different animals, which would never happen. He's such a serious kid! They told me it fits perfectly with the type of injury he had because the ball hit the back of his head, which pushed his brain forward and hitting the front part of your brain is what causes the personality changes. He finally started coming back to his normal self yesterday afternoon. He obviously still has a headache and gets tired easy, but the specialist thought he was recovering well and gave us a plan. He's stared arguing with me about no screen time, so I know he's heading the right direction. He didn't ask for two days to check his fantasy football ap or even if anyone had texted him.

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Originally Posted by MSWR0319

Thank you for all of your stories! The personality change we experienced was the scariest part for me. It would have been super funny because he was so giggly about EVERYTHING, if it hadn't meant he damaged his brain. Right after it happened he was acting like he was different animals, which would never happen. He's such a serious kid! They told me it fits perfectly with the type of injury he had because the ball hit the back of his head, which pushed his brain forward and hitting the front part of your brain is what causes the personality changes. He finally started coming back to his normal self yesterday afternoon. He obviously still has a headache and gets tired easy, but the specialist thought he was recovering well and gave us a plan. He's stared arguing with me about no screen time, so I know he's heading the right direction. He didn't ask for two days to check his fantasy football ap or even if anyone had texted him.

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Good update! Hope he continues to improve without setbacks (which wouldn’t be uncommon).


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